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Raising Our Standards

Nigga Has To Go!

Nigga has to go! That’s right I said it. It’s time we shut it down once and for all. How can we honestly continue to rationalize the use of that word any longer? For years, the older generation would get on us for saying it and we would laugh and try to defend our use by saying, “We are saying nigga, with an A, not nigger, with an E-R.” When that excuse didn’t work, we’d switch to, “We aren’t using it as hate.” In fact, we would claim it was a term of endearment. “That’s my nigga!” And if you were really special, “that’s my main nigga!” We’d walk around saying it like it was some kind of privilege. We had our own word that no other race could say. Then once our favorite hip hop artists gave their stamps of approval in every other song, no body could tell us nothin!

And sadly, this is the current state we are in now. Maybe it’s my age catching up with me but I can no longer rationalize it. When I think of that word being used to insult us as we were being beaten and killed; used as a way to describe us as being less than human, I can’t justify us now embracing it and trying to use it as a sign of endearment. That’s just crazy! It’s like saying thank you. Thank you for calling us niggers as you raped our women. Thank you for calling us niggers as you wrapped ropes around our necks and hung us from trees. Thank you, thank you, thank you! It’s a slap in the face to all of those who had to hear it on a daily basis. Can you imagine what Malcolm would say? It’s time to stop people. Nigga has to go!